U.S. Supreme Court strikes down ban on interracial marriage on June 12, 1967

MONROE, La. (KNOE) – On June 12, 1967 the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling that would strike down any ban on interracial marriage. The case was Loving v. Virginia, and the subject was Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act.

Two Virginia residents, Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter, were married in Washington, D.C. in June of 1958 where there was no ban. Richard was white, Mildred was black. They returned to their home state of Virginia and established a home in Caroline County.

That October, a grand jury issued an indictment on the Lovings charging them with violating the Virginia Racial Integrity Act. The couple pleaded guilty and were sentenced to a year in prison. The trial judge suspended their sentence on the condition the Lovings leave Virginia and not return together for 25 years.

Mr. and Mrs. Loving moved to the District of Columbia. On November 6, 1963, they filed a motion in state court saying the judgement had violated their rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. When no decision had been made by October, 1964, they started a class action suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

When the state trial judge refused to throw out their sentences, they continued their appeals until it reached the United States Supreme Court.

On June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court handed down the ruling that the Lovings’ convictions must be reversed. Their unanimous decision included this opinion:

“These statutes also deprive the Lovings of liberty without due process of law in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.”

“The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discriminations. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual, and cannot be infringed by the State.”